Canada's Transport Minister Marc Garneau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s Liberal government will this year deliver on its pledge for a moratorium on oil tanker traffic along the northern coast of British Columbia, CBC News reported on Friday.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau confirmed the plan in an interview with CBC Radio’s “The House,” the broadcaster said on its website.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last year instructed Garneau to formalize the ban on oil tanker traffic, effectively slamming the door on a pipeline project that was already facing massive development hurdles.

The ban is one of several obstacles to the building of Enbridge Inc’s Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry oil sands crude from near Edmonton, Alberta, to a deepwater port at Kitimat, British Columbia, for export to Asian markets.

Separately, Garneau said the government was looking at a recommendation that it privatize airports, but that “it’s not a front-burner exercise” and people should not jump to any conclusions, CBC said.